royal wedding

I have some exciting news! I am headed off to London tonight - meaning that I will be in the city for the Royal Wedding! It is hard to contain my excitement right now. And I am sure it will be even harder tomorrow when everything is going on. The city is decked out in British flags, people have already started camping out, and there is supposed to be a ridiculous amount of people in the streets. So basically I hope I just make it through the day alive and in one piece. 
If anyone knows me they already are aware that I have a thing for weddings. If you don't let me fill you in - I adore them! All of them, every little detail of them. But for this wedding I am most excited about what most others are probably excited for  - the dress! I am sure it will amaze us all. So here is to an amazing wedding, and hoping that it won't rain like the forecasts predicted (no one wants rain on their wedding).
After London Claire and I are off to Brussels, Brugge and Amsterdam. I will be home next Saturday to fill you all in on the rest of my travels :) Till then I hope you have a good week because I know I will. xo

a bavarian experience

If there was one word to describe my time in Munich it would probably have to be...beer. But actually. That's really what sums up our entire time in this wonderful German city. And when I say beer, I mean lots of it, in the biggest mugs I have ever seen. It provided endless entertainment at first, and then it just became normal, which is not good because we will forever hold all beer expectations up to our Munich experience. We visited a variety of beer gardens including the second largest in Munich with the capacity to hold 7000 people (and I think it was almost the full the day we went). So fascinated with the litre mugs we decided to get a Hofbrauhaus one from the Chinese Tower beer garden. I actually ended up coming home with 2 of the mugs...but thats a whole separate story. 

Our first

In awe

Viktualienmarkt

Bratwurst, sauerkraut and beer = so Bavarian

Augustiner

And if you are wondering, yes we did do a few other things besides sit in beer gardens (although most did consist of eating but oh well). We enjoyed the biggest pretzels I have ever seen, ice-cream and various food from the market (including the largest pickles we have ever seen). But the best thing we did in the city was decide to do Mikes Bike Tour. It lasted about 5 hours and allowed us to see everything we needed to in the city with our handy dandy tour guide Rob filling us in on everything we should know. Now let me tell you I have never seen a city so dedicated to bikers. Which was a good thing for us considering bikes seem to have special privileges when riding through the city (aka we ring our bell, people/cars move). It was awesome. And by far my favourite activity of our entire trip. 

Bike tour!

Theatine Church

Massive pretzels

Englischer Garten

Angel of Peace

New Town Hall in Marienplatz

Viktualienmarkt

I had the most amazing time in Munich! I am so glad that I am headed back there at the beginning of June with some friends from home. More beer, more bratwurst, and more pretzels. When did my life start to revolve so much around eating?
This was the end of our time in Germany and then it was off to the lovely and beautiful France (even more delicious food to eat - are you starting to see a pattern). xo

a mixed feeling

The next stop on our adventure was Berlin. I was really eager to visit this city after what I had heard about it. The history and politics nerd in me was crazy excited to absorb it all. After leaving and thinking about it I can honestly say that the city has a mixed vibe. On the one side it has an artsy, vintage vibe that is very likeable. We had tons of fun scrounging through stores for hidden treasures. On the other side it is somewhat depressing. The immense amount of history and the impact that it had on the city continues to live in the grey buildings and the vast amount of museums and memorials. It is safe to say that a few tears were had at the Jewish Memorial Museum. With all this said Berlin was the most unique city we visited. Its obvious diversity and overwhelming past make it a must see!

Brandenburger Gate

Dom

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Checkpoint Charlie

We visited the Brandenburger Gate which was left in a desolate no-man's-land when the Wall was built. Since the Wall's dismantling it has become the scene of the city's Unification Day and New Years Eve parties. The gate also faces one of Europe's most famous historic squares, Pariser Platz.

Just around the corner is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe that had a significant impact on all of us. It is a 19,000 square meter site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. It's intent is to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent an ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. I think that this potentially had the greatest initial impact on me over the course of our trip. 

We also ventured to Checkpoint Charlie, the name given by the western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between the East and West during the Cold War. It represented - for some east Germans - a gateway to freedom. 

Part of the Berlin Wall

Remaining section of the Wall

I think my favourite part of Berlin was getting to see the East Side Gallery. It is 1.3km section of the Wall near the centre of Berlin. Approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world covered this memorial for freedom and make made it the largest open air gallery in the world. I loved seeing the different interpretation of freedom and the feelings after the taking down of the wall. Plus the paintings itself are outstanding. 

Berlin was the perfect way to start out time in Germany. It satisfied all of our historical, amazing beer, and interesting nature notions about the country. But then it was off to Munich, a totally different side of Germany. xo

take me back any day

Prague is one of those places that I would love to visit again. As soon as we stepped out of the train station I knew I was going to love it. It had the ability to fully take me over. The beautiful architecture that took my breath away, the majestic feeling of the Prague castle, and the delicious Czech food are all reasons that someone could take me back anytime. It is currently in competition for my favourite European city so far. We will see how it holds up! In the meantime here are my favourite shots from our time there.

Pretty buildings

In the Jewish Quarter

Loving it all

Old Jewish Cemetary

Old Town Square

So these are my friends...

Wenceslas Square

Amy, Kayla and I

Markets

Prague castle

Sitting on Charles Bridge

St. Vitus's Cathedral

View from the castle

Castle gates

Delicious Czech food

Charles Bridge

We all had an amazing time in Prague and weren't quite sure how things were going to top it. Around every corner was something new to discover, something new to lay our eyes on.    If not for the insanely difficult Czech language I would definitely consider living there (we rated cities on how livable they were). For the meantime it will remain in my favourite places. xo